Unspoken
by merrawolf
Summary: Whatever you do, don't ask Ness about his summer. He doesn't want to remember what had happened that day, and tries his best to forget it. But the Smashers can sense that something is wrong, and it won't be long until he'll have to reveal the truth...
1. Prologue

**-UNSPOKEN-**

**Part One: Unwanted Memories**

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

Flashing lights blurred with the white-washed walls while sirens screamed through the air.

He lay on the bed, head pounding, mind foggy and confused. A sickening sensation rose up in him and he vomited, doubling over. The world spun around him wildly. All merged together into a shimmering spectrum of colors and he could hear a dull thumping coming from everywhere. Strong hands materialized from nowhere and shook him; a random babble of sounds filled the air.

He couldn't understand, he couldn't focus on the noises. Through his confusion, he heard someone shout, "Just get him to the hospital already!" Ness heard the stranger say more, but he felt a sharp pang in his stomach and the pain drowned out the rest of the words. He vomited again, choking on the bile that went back down his throat. He wanted to cry, he wanted to go home, but his body didn't respond to him anymore. It felt like everything had frozen up.

The flashing lights were gone. All he saw was a blinding white now, no matter where he turned… he heard yells… but a new voice echoed through his confused thoughts and said soothingly, "You're safe now, son."

He cried, he really did cry, and he cried his poor heart out. He wanted to go home, he didn't want to feel this way anymore, why did he have to go to that stupid party, he wanted to go home and play baseball instead, and kiss his mother on her soft cheek, and never go to another party alone again…

He fell into a gentle, peaceful darkness and he welcomed it.

* * *

**A/N: Yes, I'm back. I finally decided I should return at the request of my friend. I wrote this story for Robopup24 as she practically begged me to do so. Don't worry. The chapters will be much more longer than this, and everything will be made clear... I would like to thank Byoshi for beta-reading this for me.  
**

* * *


	2. Chapter One

**CHAPTER ONE**

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

The bus crawled through the winding road, exhaust spewing behind. The engine would give a groan and the old vehicle would lurch forward abruptly, tossing its passengers and cursing driver forward along with it. The shaking and staggering of the bus, as well as the stink of it, didn't help Ness's glum mood at all.

He sat at the back of the bus alone, kicking at the seat in front of him. It was nearing the end of August and that meant the Tournament season was back. Master Hand had invited him, along with some of the other veteran Smashers, to come and participate. "There will be glorious prizes if you manage to make it to the top," Master Hand had said in the letter.

Yeah, right.

The 'glorious prizes' were just a lure for the poor suckers who were stupid and greedy enough to believe in such things. The true purpose of the Tournament was just to keep an eye on them, and to refuse to go would rouse suspicions. So, a very reluctant Ness had answered that he would come, though all he wanted to do was to stay at home.

So here he was, sitting in the back of a smelly bus, with an annoying Pokemon sitting in front of him. He kicked the seat harder and heard a small squeal. Pichu looked back at him and angrily chattered in that bothersome high voice of his, waving his tiny paws so fast that they were a blur. "What was that for? That hurt you know!"

Ness resisted the urge to snap back at Pichu and tried to concentrate on the scraggly scenery outside. Pichu saw this and turned huffily away, sparks crackling in the air around him. When Ness was sure that the Pokemon wasn't looking, he tossed a crumpled candy wrapper at him. It missed. Pichu turned around once more and stuck his tongue out at him.

Pichu, or rather 'Pilot' Pichu as he preferred to be called, was one of the most irritating Smashers… at least in Ness's opinion. The Pokemon was always donning those stupid goggles and scarves and thought he was the cutest thing alive. Ness often found him hanging around the girls, giving them his 'aren't-I-the-best' attitude and gorging upon the candy that he got from some gullible idiot, usually Nana or Peach.

Ness rolled his eyes at the Pokemon and gave the seat one more kick for good measure. Pichu turned around and gave Ness a long, dirty look.

The bus jerked to a halt at a stop and, with a rusty screech, the doors flipped open. People flooded in, chatting and laughing. He scanned the crowd for any familiar faces and scrunched lower in his seat. Hopefully, his friends wouldn't see him.

"You're so _boring_, you know that?"

Ness barely gave a glance at Pichu's way. The little Pokemon was standing in the aisle, a paw on his hip as he talked. "Why don't you sit with your buddies, huh? Are you trying to hide from someone?"

Another reason why Ness hated Pichu: Pichu butted in on everyone's business and made it his own, convinced that he absolutely _needed_ to know everything and take care of it. And right now, the last thing Ness wanted was a nosy little rat on his tail.

"Leave me alone," the boy said. "Go bug someone else, will you?"

"How nice of you," Pichu said sarcastically. "I'm just trying to be friendly, you know? I'm helping you get a life." He daintily lifted his nose in the air. "But now that I think of it, it'd be a waste on someone like you."

Ness would have liked nothing more than to clobber the small Pokemon right now. But he took a deep breath, and another, before speaking as calmly as he could. "Look, Pichu. I'm not in the mood to talk right now. Why don't you go find Pikachu or something?"

"Or something," Pichu muttered. The Pokemon jumped back on his seat, peeking behind him every now and then. Ness merely tilted his cap over his face and gave a fake snore.

"Hey! Homie dog!"

Ness didn't have to lift up his cap to see the cell-shaded hero walking over to him, or to know that he was wearing those over-sized sunglasses from some cheap tourist shop. He felt Toon Link sit next to him, put an arm round his shoulder.

"Hey, Ness! Why are you sitting in the back? Aren't you glad to see us? Hey, are you sleeping?"

Toon Link was often mistaken to be related to Link in some way. The cell-shaded hero, however, was a completely different person, though he shared a lot of the Hero of Time's looks. It was rumored that he had been created in some sort of freak accident, and that he had meant to be a powerful weapon for an insane military scientist.

Toon Link proudly stated that he was unique and that he was the number one trickster in the Mansion whether the rumors were true or not. And he was right, keeping Master Hand and everyone else busy with his light-hearted pranks, and having a notorious reputation among the Smashers. Whenever someone slipped in a puddle or lost their keys, they usually cursed Toon Link. Of course, Toon Link practically lived for the attention.

Ness gave another fake snore, hoping that the cell-shaded hero would leave. He wasn't so lucky. Pichu's voice piped up, "You know, he's faking it."

Curse it. Did the Pokemon have to ruin _everything_?

"Aw, let him rot away there if he wants to!" a new, unfamiliar voice cut in. It sounded rough and commanding, as though the speaker was some sort of army commander. Curiosity got the better of Ness and he lifted up his cap to see this newcomer.

Bowser Junior stood there, his arms crossed, his trademark bib hanging from his neck as usual. He carried his Magic Paintbrush in one claw and regarded everyone with a grumpy look through his beady eyes. So, this was Bowser's son whom he had heard so much about.

The rumor that Master Hand was going to invite Bowser Junior into the Tournament seemed to be true now. Ness knew next to nothing about the little Koopa prince or how well he was going to do in the matches. Ah well, all that would be figured out when the Smashers were organized into their tiers…

Bowser Junior scowled at Ness and looked away. Well that was a good first impression…

"Ness? You awake?" Lucas, one of Ness's close friends, waved from a seat two rows in front of him. He raised his voice over the loud din. "Come sit with us, Ness!"

Ness hesitated. Pichu noticed and said, "You don't want to sit with your friends? No wonder everyone hates you."

_What?_ He stared at the Pokemon who had settled back in his seat. What the heck did Pichu mean by that? Toon Link came to Ness's defense instantly and said, "At least he's isn't a flirt, like _somebody_ we know!"

Pichu flushed at the cell-shaded hero's remark and dryly answered, "Ha ha. How mature. Excuse me now, I'm going to go find Pikachu." He tottered off, ignoring Nana who tried to get his attention. Toon Link chuckled.

"C'mon, man." he removed his sunglasses and tucked them into his pocket. "Don't mind the little rat. You so need to cheer up." Toon Link dragged Ness over to Lucas, nodding his head to some unseen beat. Someone grabbed Ness's shoulder and he turned around to see Bowser Junior glaring at him.

"I'm coming along," the Koopa prince said. Toon Link looked back, rolled his eyes, but said nothing. Ness just shrugged and let his friend continue dragging him.

Lucas was nervously waiting for them to come, and relaxed visibly when he saw them. The boy just nodded at Bowser Junior's way and slid down to make room. Ness felt a sudden fear grip him. Did he really want to talk to them?

"What're you waiting for?" Bowser Junior said crossly. "Come on, come on! We don't have all day!"

Reluctantly, Ness sat down and Lucas's hand instantly closed over his. He blinked in surprise and jerked his hand away from his friend's. Lucas looked sheepish at Ness's reaction. "Sorry. You just looked… upset about something."

"I'm not upset about anything," Ness answered half-heartedly. Keep his mouth shut and don't say anything. That's how he should play it. Maybe if he remained silent, they would do the same…

"So." Toon Link leaned back, rummaged through his pockets and produced a skinny, colorful pack. "Anybody want gum? It's cinnamon flavor."

Nobody volunteered and Toon Link popped a stick into his mouth. Lucas said quietly, "What'd you do over the summer guys?"

Oh God. That was exactly what Ness did _not_ want to talk about. He bit his lip, a bitter taste rising to his mouth as he remembered. He didn't want to think about it. It didn't happen. It didn't happen. It had all been a crazy dream, a crazy dream he had…

"That's boring," Bowser Junior snapped. "Who wants to talk about what they did over the summer?"

Toon Link chewed his gum harder. "People who actually want a social life. Don't be so negative, 'kay? Didn't you do something…?"

The rest of Toon Link's words drifted away as Ness's mind flashed through those images branded in his mind. He smelled the arid air once more, heard the mocking, soft laughter, and felt the cold can clutched in his hand…

"Ness?" Lucas shook his friend lightly. "Ness? A-are you all right?"

Ness gasped, letting go of the breath he had been holding. "I'm fine, just fine, okay? There's nothing wrong," he continued hurriedly when he saw that the others were about to object. "Nothing wrong…"

"You didn't seem all right," Toon Link pointed out. "You were saying stuff under your breath all creepy-like, and you were shaking your head like mad–"

"If he says he's all right, he's all right!" Bowser Junior cut him off. He looked Ness in the eye… was that pity Ness saw in them? "Stop bugging him. Geez!"

The cell-shaded hero drew himself up to his full height. "Well, excuse me for actually caring! We're his friends, aren't we? We're supposed to be there for him when he needs it."

"Maybe you're there too much, ever thought of that, punk?"

"Down in back!" the driver shouted. Toon Link had jumped on his chair, sword drawn. Bowser Junior regarded him with a cool air of disdain, as though he was some sort of low-life bug, meant to be squashed. "I said down in back!"

Toon Link glowered at the Koopa Prince before thrusting his sword back into its place and sitting down again. Lucas looked at the two and nervously pointed out, "Uh… guys? We're here."

Ness looked out the window and saw the familiar, towering mansion looming over them. He could see the stadium floating in the air and the empty paved roads that would be filled with a bobbing sea of spectators once Master Hand opened the gates.

He knew he should be excited, but he felt only dread inside. No matter what he did, he couldn't shake off the feeling that he should get out of here. Lucas gently nudged him and said, "Aren't you happy to be here, Ness?"

Ness stumbled for words, tried to find the right thing to say. "I guess so."

The bus screeched to a halt.

* * *

**A/N: A big thanks to Byoshi for beta-reading this! What exactly happened to Ness during the summer? More will be revealed in the next chapter. Stay tuned!  
**


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